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Monday, 22 July 2013

I am happy to welcome Rosanna Leo today who has come to tell us about her new book in the Orkney Selkies series.

I’d like to once again thank Layne for
allowing me to visit. It’s always a pleasure to be here.

I’m here as part of my current blog tour to
promote my new paranormal romance Selkie’s
Revenge, book 2 of my Orkney Selkies series.

Have you heard of selkies? The mythology
surrounding these creatures is astounding. Selkie stories abound in Scotland
and Ireland, in particular around many of the islands in these countries. They
are shape shifters and have the ability to shift into the form of a seal when
wearing their seal pelts. When they remove the pelt, they can walk as men and
women on dry land.

Selkies are known as sexual genies. They
are renowned for their talent in the lovemaking department. In fact, the
legends say a woman who is unsatisfied with her love life need only cry 7 tears
into the sea to call a lusty selkie man. He will love her as no mortal man can.
If she hides his seal pelt, he will be forced to stay with her. But if he finds
it again, he will abandon her for the sea.

Selkies are considered to be quite
attractive and are often described as having dark, enigmatic looks. They
usually possess black, limpid eyes and long, dark hair. Of course, they are
fair of form with perfect bodies. They are creatures who are capable of
ensnaring with their looks and their charm.

My hero Machar Kirk fits most of this bill:
he is very dark and dashing, muscled and mysterious. I have also given him a
few extra traits: he is a hunter of evil finmen, shape shifting beasts who
haunt the Orkney shores. Mack, too, has a long history of loving women, but his
relationships have been fairly intense for a selkie. His younger brother Calan
of The Selkie was more of a love ‘em
and leave ‘em type guy. At least, until he found his mate.

Even though selkies are rather promiscuous,
Machar’s heart is taken by a young widow who he spies on the beach one day.
Unfortunately, she’s also been seen by his nemesis, the finman who killed his
first love centuries ago. And now Mack has to decide: does he forsake his
selkie nature and risk falling in love again, or does he simply swim away and
abandon her to her fate?

I hope you’ll check out Selkie’s Revenge and see what he does!

Blurb:

On the beaches of Orkney, Scotland, an evil entity stalks
mortal women. Machar “Mack” Kirk is a selkie man with a haunted past, one that
has prompted him to become a hunter. He prowls the beaches at night, his arrows
aiming for the finman who took his first love.

Beth Pedersen also watches the sea. The haunted widow has
suffered losses of her own, ones that have crippled her into a state of stony
grief. Beth can no longer feel, can no longer see color and life. Until the day
Mack Kirk saves her from a mysterious foe, flooding her world with brightness
and foreign temptation.

As Mack and Beth fight their inundating passion, the finman
escalates his attacks. Before long, Mack realizes he’s not just playing Good
Samaritan. He wants Beth, too, and will do anything to ensure his lover isn’t
taken by the finman. But can he protect his mate from a monster with no soul?

Excerpt:

As a torrent of emotion coiled up through her core, Beth
kissed him. She barely understood his words, barely comprehended her own
thoughts, but she knew she needed Mack’s mouth upon hers. She smashed her lips
against his, and his tongue penetrated the warmth of her mouth, finding its
home there. He slid his hands down her back to her bottom, and he groaned,
digging into the soft flesh of her behind.

Desire and common sense raged a war inside her head. Common
sense told her to pack a bag, purchase a ticket to New Smyrna, and leave Mack
Kirk far behind. Desire told her to submit, and it was winning out by a mile.
“I don’t know what to do. I need you to tell me what to do.”

He leaned in, smelling so sweet, like an exotic fruit she
just needed to peel and gobble up. “Just let go, Beth. Just feel.”

She dared to look him in the eye. “I’m afraid to feel.”

“I know. For years I was too.” He brushed his lips against
hers, and his tongue slipped out to caress between them, making her ache with
such yearning. “But I’ll help you.”

Jamie and Edan arrived with beers. Edan gave Jamie a look as
if knowing they’d interrupted something. “I’m heading back to the bar to try my
luck with the luscious bartender.”

Jamie grimaced. “The old one with the beard?”

“Not him, you eejit,” Edan said with a grunt. “The female
bartender. The one with the big…” He paused, looking at Beth. “Uh, bottle of
vodka. Right, that one.” He dashed off.

Jamie winked at Beth. “I’ll get to her first.” With a smile,
he was after his brother.

She leaned against Mack’s wall of a chest, wanting to lose
herself in him. “Show me how to feel again.”

“With pleasure,” he growled into her ear. He nibbled her
earlobe and then proceeded to slide back out of the booth.

“Where are you going?” she asked, already needy for his
touch again.

“Just to the jukebox,” he replied, grinning. “You are going
to dance with me. And feel.”

She watched, glued to her seat as Mack inserted a couple of
coins into the jukebox and selected a song. He turned to her, his lips curled
in a grin. As the first rolling guitar chords of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s
“Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” washed over her, making her want to move, Mack
beckoned to her with a finger.

Beth’s body moved toward him, responding like a homing
pigeon diving toward its destination. He pulled her into his arms and they
swayed. Beth had never danced so closely with a man to anything but a romantic
ballad, but Mack wouldn’t break contact with her. He moved his hard body
against hers, his hands on her hips, and his erection was a thick temptation
grinding against her stomach. She had to fight the need to drop to her knees,
rip down his jeans, and take his cock deep in her throat. The urge, and the
depth of emotion accompanying it, made her light-headed. He turned her away
from the bar area toward the nearest wall and slid his hands over the curve of
her bottom. His fingers dug into her ass, and Beth had to remind herself they
were in public. She wanted him to nail her right to the wall. Through the damn
wall. She needed him inside her at all costs.

He felt so good.

My mate. Could it be?

He lowered his head so he could whisper against her ear. “Do
you feel me, Beth? Do you feel my desire throbbing against you? My need to be
joined to you again?”

The song reached its crescendo, and his hips rolled against
hers in a heady foreshadowing of what he would do to her the next time they
were alone. Beth closed her eyes. The way he moved was sinful. She imagined
devils from the most depraved circles of hell might dance in such a fashion.
All of a sudden, even her soft leggings felt tight and restrictive. She wanted
them off. She wanted no barrier between their bodies. As if sensing her need,
Mack reached a discreet hand toward her breast and located her distended nipple
through her tunic. He tugged and she had to bite her lip not to cry out.

Rosanna Leo is a multi-published, erotic romance author with
Liquid Silver Books. Her books include For the Love of a God, Up In Flames,
Sweet Hell, The Selkie, Sunburn and Predator’s Kiss. When not writing, she can
be found haunting dusty library stacks or planning her next star-crossed love
affair.

Saturday, 13 July 2013

It is my absolute pleasure to have Daisy Banks visit here and talk about Celebrations today!

Celebrations
today.

In France today, the 14th
of July, the people celebrate the La
Fête Nationale. I take great delight in wishing them well with their
celebrations and hope the fireworks in Paris are fabulous.

My visits have been infrequent in the last few years, but I have always
enjoyed my time in the south of France. The fabulous tree-lined roads leading
to Nice and the Cote d’Azure are a wonderful drive to make. I hope the trees
now aging will be replaced to maintain this quintessential vista for the locals
and visitors alike.

If you travel at the right time of year down to the south of France, the
scent of ripening fruit tantalizes and you have to stop and buy. My favorite
memory is of peaches ripe enough to melt in your mouth, so juicy you can’t eat
them without dribbles of liquid running over your fingers. The people in
Florida will read that and think, so what. People in England may well
understand.

I also love the lavender fields that spread for miles over the hillsides
and make the air heady sweet.

I am hoping next Spring to be able to visit France again. The one place I
want to see, and so far haven’t, is the palace of Versailles. Next year, I hope
to make a short break to experience Versailles. I want to use the visit as
research for my next historical story. This story will be set in France in the 1790s,
and I am eager to begin work on it. I will also again be able to use my other
interest of antiques in the story too. You can find out more about that if you
read my blog tomorrow at:

I am celebrating too at present, as I’ve just discovered my historical
novel, A Gentleman’s Folly has been accepted by Liquid Silver Books and
will be available in the autumn, (fall). I’m sure you can understand I
am thrilled by this news of another story joining my current book with Liquid
Silver Books, Your Heart My Soul.

Here is a short snip from Your Heart My Soul.

Gareth
raced back from the café, squashing the lid on a massive take-out cup of
heavily sweetened coffee for Libby. He found her right where he’d left her
after she fell from the counter: on the floor, in the arc of brilliant
sunlight, halfway out in the small lobby halfway in the shop. The sun
highlighted her dark hair with fire-bright chestnut sparks. He struggled to
accept both what appeared to have happened and that he’d called her back safe
and whole. He’d never dealt with anything as forceful as the entity in this
shop.

Poor,
sweet angel. She looked shell-shocked, stared up to him with eyes almost all
black pupils still, her face so pale, he worried she might faint.

Though
the boards were dirty and uncomfortable, he knelt beside her, and offered her
the cup. “Here, sip this.”

She
took a tiny mouthful, swallowed, and again. “What happened?”

Her
voice wavered, and his uncertainty that the words were truly her own grew.

“A
brief kind of spiritual possession. For a short time, the voice of another
person spoke through you.”

“Oh,
God!”

“Don’t
panic, I’m fairly certain she’s gone now.”

Libby
clutched his hand. Her nails dug deep into his flesh, and her fingers trembled.
“Are you sure? Please say she can’t come and go as she wishes. She can’t, can
she?”

“Relax,
calm down. No, I believe she can’t. Though I have to warn you she’s very
powerful, and you, well you have to be a gifted receptive to receive such a
visitation.” He slid his palm over her smooth hair, stroked along, and caressed
her shoulder. She needed reassurance, and to his mind, touch offered her the
best he could give her at present. “I’ve not known anyone else this has
happened to. All this is new to me.”

She
opened her eyes so wide the whites shone all the way round. “It won’t happen
again?”

He
shook his head. “Not if I can help it. I’ll have to research about this kind of
spiritual interaction. The power of this level of connection is unusual. Such
things happen, but they are extraordinary.” Deliberate in his effort to calm
her, he avoided use of the word possession again. Libby appeared terrified by
the idea, and at present, he couldn’t blame her, but he must try to make her
understand what was happening. “I’m afraid you will have to face the fact we
might need to talk with the entity again,” he warned. “Though not today, I’m
fairly certain. We’ve done enough in the shop for now, and you’re coming back
to my apartment.”

Daisy
Banks is from the Black Country, the heartlands of the Midlands in the UK. She
is proud to count as her ancestors the people who lived in the narrow,
blue-brick paved streets, who delved for coal or worked metal. Daisy is married
and now her boys are adults she spends time writing romance. Daisy loves
traditional romantic songs and ballads, is interested in art and architecture,
enjoys travel, and occasionally cooks a meal that doesn’t stick to the pan.

Wednesday, 3 July 2013

Hello and welcome to The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. It is an exciting event that gives readers the opportunity to discover new authors! After my post I have put the names of several authors who are joining me. Below I have answered some questions on my new release Desire Unleashed published by Liquid Silver Books.

What is the working title of your book?

Well that’s an easy one to start with! The
title is Desire Unleashed, and it’s
the first book in my Desire Series. The hero is Shane Jackson, aka Ice, he’s a
cocky navy SEAL and a loner, that is until he meets shy schoolteacher and good
girl, Kathy Bellamy who turns his world upside down. I’m currently working on
the second book in the series, Desire
Denied and I have ideas running amuck in my head for Desire Rekindled.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

When I finally decided to tap on the
keyboard, I knew I wanted to write about a hero in uniform that could evolve
into a series. The story just didn’t germinate from one idea, it kind of
bloomed and developed as I wrote. Being a pantster I let the story go where it
took me, it was a real learning curve, but the threads all came together in a
satisfying ending.

What genre does your book come under?

It’s a contemporary suspense, and as I said
before the hero is a military man. Gotta love those men in uniform! It’s set mostly in Coronado, but the story
does take the characters to Louisiana and Cambodia. Being a romantic suspense
there’s also a bit of a mystery to be solved, but I can’t say too much on that.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters
in a movie rendition?

Mm that’s a tricky one. There are so many
delicious actors out there it’s hard to choose. The main male characters are
Ice, Wolf, Hawk, Havoc, and Frosty. Now Havoc is easy. He has an Australian dad
and an American mom, so who better to play him than our own home grown hunk
Chris Hemsworth. John Cena would be perfect for Ice, and Ryan Gosling for Wolf and
Colin Farrell of course with red hair for Hawk, and last but not least Paul
Bettany for Frosty.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

That is tough, how do you reduce a one
hundred thousand words book into one sentence. Perhaps something like
this. When cocky Navy SEAL meets
old-fashioned good girl his life spirals out of his control, and as much as he
bucks against it he finds himself in a relationship, but he’s not the only man after her, so when she goes missing he
is predatory in his pursuit to get her back.

Is your book self-published, published by an
independent publisher, orrepresented by an agency?

Desire Unleashed is published by Liquid Silver
Books, they are a wonderful company and I can’t sing their praises enough. I
enjoyed a good relationship with my editors and their art department was
amazing.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of
your manuscript?

When I finally decided to put pen to paper
I guess it took me around 18 months. It is a long story and I wanted to make it
perfect and for every character to have a voice, and to set the scene for their
tale. Also the suspense element needed to be as dramatic as possible without
giving anything away. I believe I achieved that but it took a lot of trial and
error.

What other books would you compare this story to
within your genre?

There are several writers I admire who
write brilliant contemporary romance. But as far as series go I would have to
say Sandra Hill’s Viking series or Suzanne Brockman’s military series are
comparable to my Desire Series of which Desire Unleashed is book number one.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

One of the biggest pleasures in my life has
always been reading. I wanted to see if I was capable of writing. It made me
wonder if I could weave a tale that people would enjoy. Because of this ambition I decided to push my
boundaries, to see how far my imagination would take me, and my family
encouraged me all the way.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s
interest?

Desire Unleashed is not only a romance
story. It’s a story about friendship, camaraderie, and loyalty interwoven with
humor, suspense and intrigue, and if that isn’t enough to pique the reader’s
interest then it also has five very hot Navy SEALS—I rest my case!!